


Letting Her Guard Down

by kiss_me_cassie



Category: Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Bad Flirting, Bad Pick-Up Lines, F/M, M/M, Multi, Pre-OT3, Pre-Relationship, Security Guard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:41:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25926070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiss_me_cassie/pseuds/kiss_me_cassie
Summary: Natasha eyed the men. Were they trouble? Should she approach to find out a little more about why they were here?  They hadn't done anything since she'd noticed them except make her libido sit up and take notice.
Relationships: Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov, James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton
Comments: 16
Kudos: 44
Collections: Be Compromised Promptathon





	Letting Her Guard Down

**Author's Note:**

> In response to a Summer Promptathon from @m3dras - "I'm the security guard here and trying to kick you out, please stop flirting with me"
> 
> Nicknames stolen from @cloudatlas (Please don't hate me?) Beta thanks to @crazy4orcas. All my love to the best bar.
> 
> Heavily influenced by Tales of Suspense: Hawkeye & The Winter Soldier, but also inspired by Iron Man. Its a mish and a mosh of things.

Natasha shifted in her very sensible black heels and scanned the partygoers talking and drinking around her before sneaking a quick look at her phone. It was barely nine in the evening, which meant she still had a very long night ahead of her.

Damn Maria for talking her into working Tony Stark's business party. Not that the paycheck wouldn't totally be worth it, but providing undercover security at these kinds of things was boring beyond belief. Despite the always imminent threat of something happening, nothing ever did. 

Well, except that one time with the attempted kidnappers at Stark's Expo, but he'd dealt with it so brilliantly himself that now no one dared try anything at any of his events. Private security like herself was mostly superfluous, but Ms. Potts had insisted and called in a personal favor from Maria to have one or two of her people in attendance.

Natasha scanned the room once again, looking for even the smallest hint of trouble - or anything that might kill her boredom - when her eyes fell on two men by the buffet. Oh, they were trouble, all right, these men - one dark, one light, both looking like sin on legs. 

And if they weren't trouble, they were at least interesting enough to keep her occupied for the next five minutes. Or even the next five hours, Natasha mused, as a little sizzle of desire zinged through her.

They looked completely out of place at this swanky party, despite the expensive suits they wore. None of Stark's associates would have had a man bun like the dark haired guy. And the blonde's suit was so ill-fitting as to be comical. Plus, neither one of them had a bored date standing by their side like all the other high-rolling business associates in attendance.

No, they most definitely did not belong here. Although Natasha wouldn't have minded if either one of them - or both - decided they belonged in her bed.

She shook her head to clear it and willed the flip-floppy feeling in her belly go away. 

Maybe she should have eaten a more substantial dinner. 

Or maybe she shouldn't have let three solid months pass since the last time she'd gotten laid.

She eyed the men a little more closely. Were they trouble? Should she approach to find out a little more about why they were here? Or should she simply continue to monitor their behavior? They hadn't done anything untoward since she'd noticed them. All they'd done is made her libido sit up and take notice, and she couldn't exactly hold that against them. 

It was her own fault for turning down Bruce when he'd asked her out a few months ago. She could have been having nice, vanilla sex with him on a regular basis. But no, she'd wanted something more. Something like the flare of excitement she was currently feeling just from watching these two attractive men.

She was still debating what her best course of action would be when Buff Blonde happened to look up and straight at her.

A slow grin spread across his face and he leaned in and said something to Man Bun, who immediately turned around to stare at her, too. Smirking, he lifted his glass of champagne in a mock toast, said something in return to his friend, and then headed for the bar for more champagne, leaving Buff Blonde to make a beeline directly for her.

"Hey," Buff Blonde greeted.

"Hello," she said coolly. Or as coolly as she could manage with him standing right next to her while the little sizzle of arousal in her belly started getting hotter by the second.

He looked around at the party and then back to her as he patted his jacket pockets. "I seem to have lost my phone number. Can I have yours?"

It was a good thing she was working and only had club soda in her glass, because as pick up lines went, that was one of the worst she had ever heard. And she'd heard a lot. But it was also strangely endearing. Or maybe it only seemed so endearing because of the way he was grinning down at her.

His smile widened. "Do you have a name? Or can I call you mine?"

"It's Natasha," she said with a laugh as she subtly maneuvered him closer to the exit. "Do these awful pick up lines usually work for you?" 

He shrugged, his smile not lessening one little bit despite the subtle insult. "Sometimes." 

"Listen, I'm the security guard here and I'm trying to kick you out. Please stop flirting with me," she begged, even though, oh god, the sizzle had mutated into a full-fledged inferno and she really didn't _want_ him to stop flirting.

He frowned. "But I have so many good one-liners I still haven't shared! One more?"

She had him near the door now and figured it wouldn't hurt if she let him try another. "Fine. One more. But then I'm going to have to ask you and your friend to leave. You are clearly not on Mr. Stark's invite list."

"So you figured that one out, did you?" he asked. 

He didn't look in the least contrite at being found out and she couldn't help smiling back at him. "It wasn't that hard."

"Ok, so before you kick us out, here's my last one: Don't tell me if you want me to take you out to dinner. Just smile for yes, or do a backflip-somersault-counter-spin gymnastics combo for no."

"That was probably one line you shouldn't have used on me. I can take a man down with one swipe of my leg and my counter-spin is amazing."

He looked doubtful. "Not that I don't think you're a totally capable woman, but I'm not sure you'd really be able to take me down. I'm not exactly a lightweight and I'm 6'2"."

Natasha arched an eyebrow. There was no way she was going to let a challenge like that pass her by. "Wanna try me?"

She didn't give him a chance to so much as blink before she had him flipped onto his back, so effortlessly that only the handful of guests closest to them even realized that something was going on.

He stared up at her, his eyes wide, but instead of looking pissed like most of the guys she'd used that move on, he looked downright besotted.

"Babe, what the hell are you doing?" Man Bun asked, suddenly appearing beside the two of them. 

Natasha barely contained her groan. Had her stomach done a flip-flop when Buff Blonde had approached? Because Man Bun was having an equally chaotic effect on her already overly excited libido now that he was this close to her.

"I think I'm in love," Buff Blonde said to Man Bun, still looking up at her dazedly.

Man Bun sighed and held out a hand to help his friend up. "Of course you are."

"Did you see what she did to me? It was amazing. She grabbed my hand and wham! I was on the floor in under six seconds."

It was her turn to blink. He wasn't upset? 

"Are you ok?" she asked. Surely no sane man would look that happy at having been thrown like that by a woman half his size. Maybe he had a concussion from the fall. "You didn't crack your head when you landed, did you?"

"Not likely," Man Bun said, chuckling. "This is just him being him. I'm Bucky, by the way. This idiot here is my partner, Clint."

Partner. And now that Natasha was finally starting to realize that Clint's reaction was absolutely genuine, it clicked that Bucky had called him “Babe” earlier. She could barely hide her disappointment. "Oh. I didn't realize--"

And then something else clicked. "Wait a second - Clint? And Bucky? You're Barton & Barnes?"

Clint grinned at her. "You've heard of us?"

"Who hasn't?" Natasha groaned. "I can't believe I didn't recognize you! You're the Trickshot Duo."

"We're not as easy to recognize when we're not in spandex and leather," Clint said with a smirk. "Although this one can't hide his murder strut even in a thousand dollar suit."

Natasha swallowed hard. They were amazingly attractive in their thousand dollar wool suits. But in their skin tight leather costumes, they were absolutely breathtaking. All muscle and sinew and skin. She couldn't help thinking of how they'd look out of either the suits or the costumes. Which was a fruitless line of thinking because it was well-known that Clint Barton and Bucky Barnes were romantically involved.

"I can't believe you're the world famous Barton & Barnes. So many guys come up to me and give me a hard time because they want to get into my pants. I thought for sure…" She trailed off, not quite sure how to put into words that for once she was disappointed.

"I'm pretty sure Clint _does_ want to get into your pants," Bucky said with a laugh. "The fact that you were able to flip him is just a bonus."

"Hey! I'm not so crazy that I'd -- ok, maybe I am," Clint admitted. "But you have to admit what she did was pretty damned cool."

Natasha's gaze pinballed between them. "I don't understand. Aren't the two of you a… couple?"

Bucky sighed as Clint launched into an oddly overblown explanation. "Couple implies just two, like a matched set, a pair of bookends, a bow and an arrow, a gun and a bullet. We're more like two excellent pistols which are part of a whole armory of weapons."

When Natasha just looked even more confused, Bucky broke in. "Great job, Babe. That was really clear. Maybe I can give it a go?"

"Well, sure," Clint said, looking at him a bit peevishly. "If you want to."

"Look," Bucky began. "The press likes to play up the fact that we're partners _and_ partners, but it totally overlooks the fact that we're not exclusive and that both of us at times have had other relationships. And they never mention that occasionally those other relationships and partners are, um…"

"Shared," Clint said, his goofy grin firmly back in place. "Completely, consensually, and enjoyably shared."

Bucky smiled indulgently at Clint, who nodded, and then looked back at Natasha. "Do you get what we mean?"

She was starting to, and the fire in her belly took over her whole darn body as she started to imagine what it'd be like to be sandwiched between them. Natasha had to admit she'd never been the type who was into that sort of thing, but there was no denying that she felt a huge attraction to both of these men.

"Clint was totally into you as soon as we walked into the party. He's always been a sucker for beautiful redheads. But now, after showing him what a badass you are on top of that, he's clearly smitten. And I have to admit, knowing you can do that to him, I'm mighty interested myself now."

"So maybe we can interest you in a date sometime so we can get to know you a little better?" Clint asked.

She eyed them speculatively. "I'm not saying yes, but I am not saying no either. You've intrigued me."

"Intrigued, huh?" Clint said, grinning. "We can work with intrigued."

Natasha laughed. "I have to work until this thing is over, which isn't going to be until the wee hours, but maybe you can give me a call tomorrow and we can meet up for a bite somewhere?"

"I will bite you anywhere, anytime you like," Clint said, winking at her. 

She turned to Bucky and cocked her head at him. "Is he always like this?"

Bucky laughed again. "Only when he's trying to make an impression."

Natasha grinned. "Oh, he's definitely done that."

"You're not rethinking the dinner thing, are you?"

"Hell no!" she laughed. "I'm only looking forward to it more. And maybe after dinner, we can consider other biting options we all might be interested in."


End file.
